Monday, February 16, 2009

Shiva is our latest screenwriting game/exercise. It is turn based, each of the players/authors has a character they hope will last until the finale. Because it’s fun and game-like we are trying to use this technique as a way of creating collaborative scripts. The aim is to create an off the cuff rough-draft script that can be fairly easily turned into a first-draft. We’re finding that it’s difficult to give the script structure but we are working on it.

Our rough draft of Shiva is finished now and we are on the rewrite phase. You can have a look at the rough-draft we came up with but bear in mind that none of it was plotted and that there were 12 active collaborators that’s 12+ active characters and a hefty page count. The dream sequences can get a bit bizarre but they have no bearing on the story so you can pretty much skip them if you like.

The story is basically as follows:

A virulent airborne form of rabies decimates the human population and leaves the animals mad. Some people band together into tribes to try to survive in this strange new world but they are plagued by visions and dreams of a creature both frightening and comforting at the same time. It's calling them to it and they have no choice but to obey the call -- no matter how dangerous the journey may be.

Three tribes start from a different location: New York (New York), Detroit (Michigan) and Ottawa(Canada). They head for a startling climax at Niagara Falls where they meet up with the creature from their dreams: some want to kill it, some want to worship it. Whoever survives the dangers of the journey will write the ending.

We are having a contest to see who can come up with the best rewrite. Anyone is invited to participate. Deadline for the revision is May 15, 2009. Send the revision to me.

And we are planning some new game/exercises in the next couple of months, stay tuned for details.